Round four for the ROCKSTAR ENERGY MAYHEM FESTIVAL in Albuquerque, NM was bestowed onto the state’s largest group of heavy and hard rocker lovers. With the diverse lineup consisting of Disturbed, Godsmack, Megadeth, Machine Head, and many others, it showed no mercy on the pack of concertgoers who were looking for a rocking day of heavy music. Also, for two years in a row, Albuquerque became the first stop on the tour to have a sold out crowd once again. New Mexico sure is the state for a proper heavy metal gathering. Arriving just in time for the first band, the mayhem was once again about to ensue.

STRAIGHT LINE STITCH
Rating: 8.5/10
Review: Starting the day off in the 97-degree weather, Straight Line Stitch showed the familiar crowd what they were once again made of with their blistering 30 minute set. Going into old and new songs, they didn’t let up the energy one bit.
Crowd Reaction: The crowd was into them. The moshers were doing their job, and the people off to the side were headbanging, waving their fists and horns, and providing their enjoyment.

Setlist:
1) Tear Down The Sky
2) Never See The Day
3) Conversion
4) What You Do To Me
5) Remission
6) Taste Of Ashes
7) Black Veil

RED FANG
Rating: 9.5/10
Review: Red Fang was up next and provided the crowd a variety of sludge metal and hard rock. It was a relief to see a different mix of music for the casual heavy crowd, and Red Fang is the band to do it.
Crowd Reaction: Though the crowd was a tiny bit scarce, they seemed to be into it. A good pit was going once the show carried on.

ALL SHALL PERISH
Rating: 7/10
Review: All Shall Perish is a band I enjoy. I’ve seen them a few times and always found their performances to be energetic and glorious. This however, was not the case. Sure, they kept the crowd going, but that didn’t help their bad sound setup. Maybe it was a sound technician mistake or maybe they were just tired from playing in the intense heat from Phoenix from the day before? But something had to be fixed with that sound. Not the best form I’ve seen them in.
Crowd Reaction: The crowd was going nuts. The pit broke loose and never stopped since the opening song.

Setlist:
1) Wage Slaves
2) Gagged, Bound, Shelved, And Forgotten
3) There Is No Business To Be Done On A Dead Planet
4) Procession Of Ashes
5) In This Life Of Pain
6) There Is Nothing Left
7) Eradication

KINGDOM OF SORROW
Rating: 9/10
Review: Next up was Jasta’s and Windstein’s band. The influence of Hatebreed and Crowbar thrown in together created a beast of a set. The energy was off the charts and into the next.
Crowd Reaction: The pit was moving, the crowd sang along to the words they knew, and all in all, they really enjoyed it.

SUICIDE SILENCE
Rating: 9/10
Review: Pulverizing. I don’t believe there’s any other way to describe it. A much larger improvement from the previous deathcore band, All Shall Perish. This is a band known for their energetic presence, and they took it to 11.
Crowd Reaction: Two pits broke out and formed into one large pit. The crowd sang along and the crowd surfers got extremely involved. All what you would expect from a Suicide Silence show.

Setlist:
1) Wake Up
2) Unanswered
3) You Only Live Once
4) Fuck Everything
5) Disengage
6) Slave To Substance
7) No Pity For A Coward

UNEARTH
Rating: 9.5/10
Review: Unearth was next and did their duty of kicking some ass. They were truly one of the best acts on the Jager stage along with Red Fang. They are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to a high octane set. Any veteran Unearth watcher would know.
Crowd Reaction: The pit was continuously moving and the crowd surfers once again did what they did best.

IN FLAMES
Rating: 10/10
Review: One of the best bands of the day. The Swedish melo-death kings gave Albuquerque an adrenaline dose of European mayhem. It was astonishing from beginning to end.
Crowd Reaction: The pits were absolutely insane. Two pits once again formed into one, and it eventually grew massive enough to where people ended up getting dragged up from the intensity.

Setlist:
1) Cloud Connected
2) The Mirrors Truth
3) Alias
4) Deliver Us
5) Pinball Map
6) The Hive
7) Where The Dead Ships Dwell
8) The Quiet Place
9) Take This Life

TRIVIUM
Rating: 9/10
Review: Being a veteran Trivium watcher, it was expected they would deliver and good set. I was right of course. They kept the place moving as they ripped through their set with a great variety of classic and newer tunes.
Crowd Reaction: As usual, the crowd showed Trivium what New Mexico is all about by giving them the benefit of great sized pits and tons of crowd surfers.

Setlist:
1) Capsizing The Sea (intro)
2) In Waves
3) A Gunshot To The Head of Trepidation
4) Inception Of The End
5) Down From The Sky
6) Throes Of Perdition
7) Dusk Dismantled
8) Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr

MACHINE HEAD
Rating: 9.5/10
Review: Absolutely incredible. Machine Head got the job done first hand by giving the early Main Stage audience a blistering 35 minute set of hard hitting tunes.
Crowd Reaction: Headbangers galore! I wouldn’t be surprised by all the sore necks tomorrow morning all because of Machine Head.

MEGADETH
Rating: 10/10
Review: Megadeth…such an iconic name. And by that, you could expect the set to be as amazing as you would think. But don’t get ahead of yourself, because it was better than what you would think! Megadeth showed the rest of the Mayhem bands who was really in charge during their intense 50 minute set.
Crowd Reaction: By this time, the Main Stage was absolutely packed from top to bottom. The crowds chanted “Megadeth” over and over and welcomed Megadeth as Mayhem Festival alumni with open arms. They absolutely loved it.

GODSMACK
Rating: 10/10
Review: Being that it was my first time seeing Godsmack, I can say job well done. Godsmack is a band that shows no mercy and wants to give the crowd 110% from the opening minute of their set. They certainly showed that promise as they rocked the entire Pavilion with 120%.
Crowd Reaction: Moshers in the lawn got the job done as people in the seats kept the energy going as they sang to the popular tunes while never stopping the movement and energy that was expected.

DISTURBED
Rating: 9/10
Review: My fifth time seeing Disturbed, I will say they have improved quite a lot. In fact, they seemed to be quite ontop of their game since I saw them for the first time in 2003. They gracefully closed the festival with a barrage of heavy hitters ranging from newer to older singles. It was very enjoyable.
Crowd Reaction: An extremely large percentage of the crowd managed to stay for Disturbed, which was good, because that added more to the intensity. The crowd sang along, waved their fists and horns, and more or less made the Earth move as they jumped up and down when given the demand.